Klynzahr

Would there be any space for a seven foot tall, blue gladiator in event 1 or 3? :blush: I don't know any of you guys IC yet but I have been lurking around this thread for a few months now and I would love to get involved. I have put together a starter character sheet for Klynzahr, which is just waiting for someone with experience to give it a look over.

I have taken two characters through a large portion of this process, although neither of them followed a perfectly linear progression. Iyrnahct 1) Denial: This was a very long stage for Iyrnahct, lasting for several months after the calamity. "Dani canna be gone, she's the best twelve's damned marauder I kin name. Na' she's only held up, be marchen back from Cartenue any day now." 2) Anger: This stage was triggered by the return of Dani's remaining effects, and manifested itself in 14 hour shifts at the forge, followed by angry drinking binges. "How could th'twelve be takin' her from m'too? M'byes deserve t'be knowin' their own mum!" 3)Bargaining: This followed closely on the heels of Iyrnahct's initial anger. "Th'whole world be upside down. Like as not, th'messanger was mistaken." At this point the process was stalled by the realization that he could no longer recall his wife's name or face .... "Aye, me wife served in th'maelstrom.... her name was... ee'was..." Of course this lead back to.... 1) Denial: "I canna be fergettin her name! Was na'even three moons back.... s'only th'long work hours gettin' ta me." 2) Anger: "S'naw bloody fair! I be loosin' errythin I had o'her!" 4) Depression: The first stages lasted much larger the second time around before depression took over about a year post calamity. Unlike the other stages this one was marked by uncharacteristic silence and obsessive dedication to his work. 3) Bargaining: This succeeded and partially overlapped with the fourth stage. Many sleepless nights have been spent pouring over the two sketches of Dani that he possesses or reading her name aloud for hours. All of these efforts have failed to make the slightest difference, ten seconds after looking away he has forgotten her name and face again. 5) Acceptance: Iyrnahct arrived at this peaceful spot just over a year ago, with help from his two older children. He has put aside his last mementos of Dani and largely embraced his life again, although he still has the rare relapse into stage three and four. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniwyda's journey begun far more recently and her grief remains very potent. 1) Denial: Her circumstances were so outlandish, the truth was particularly easy for Dani to deny. "It's understandable how some were forgotten. Can't remember a shred of those years m'self, but no one's goin' ter forget family. O'course they'll know me." 2) Anger: This stage was delayed for several days by a period of pure shock. Although she could no longer logically deny her situation, the actual comprehension was slow in coming. Shock gave way to half a day of violent rage, which poured into the stones around Limsa Lominsa. After breaking several dozen boulders and exhausting herself, she returned to the city with a nearly level head and requested the most dangerous guild leve's available. Although the initial fury was short lived, she harbored a simmering anger for months. "Don't blather t'me guild master. Jus' find me a leve t'sink this ax inside." 3) Bargaining took several forms for Dani, but the first one coincided with her anger. "It be th'Garleans that are t'blame, and I intend t'make th'lot pay." 4) Depression: This stage began, when Dani re injured her leg en route to Northern Thanlan. After making her way back to her native Limsa Lominsa, she has become extremely quiet and withdrawn, rarely leaving the city and drinking more than she ought. This stage has been very subtle for her but she is far from actual acceptance. " 'Venturin'? Not I. Make m'livin' as a fisher these days." 3) Bargaining: Dani will periodically revert to this stage, by contriving to 'accidentally' come across her husband or one of her sons. Their inability to recognize her invariably triggers several weeks of deeper depression. I find it amusing to read over the timeline of this. Both Dani and Iyrnahct grieved the same loss, but Iyrnahct has had five years to process, what Dani has understood for less than a year. Time warps

So I have worked for the past three years as the Health and Beauty Clerk for a small chain grocery store. This job includes lots of counting toothpaste tubes, checking the expiry on vitamins and chatting to the seniors, who frequent the store. However not all of our clientele are so pleasant. This store is located in a small township an hour away from Vancouver, which has recently seen an influx of drug addicts from the city. At least once a day someone on staff finds themselves following a suspicious character around the store, maybe they are a known thief, or carrying a ridiculous number of well-stuffed duffel bags, or just high out of their mind. Whatever the reason, if a person arouses our suspicions we will usually drop our work and trail them around the store for a bit. Generally they realize the game is up and make for the exit in a huff, but every now and then one gets more confrontational. Several months ago, I spotted one of my least favorite sights; a young man, obviously on something already, coming out of my department, with his pockets bulging. I could easily identify the shape of a box of matchsticks, a thinner package that was probably sinus medication, and the round bulge of crazy glue. Mentally cursing myself for not spotting him sooner, I fell in behind the would-be shop lifter, fully expecting him to waltz out of the store scott free. But drugs do strange things to people's logic and rather than making a break for the nearby door, this fellow decided to turn around and challenge the little girl behind him. He spun around, obviously trying to intimidate me and shouted "WHAT?!!!" in a voice that could be heard three aisles over. On the spur of the moment, I stuck my chin out and snapped right back at him "What's that in your pocket?" In response he launched into a tirade about his personal rights and began threatening to sue me, while I managed to keep my cool and continued to repeat that if he had nothing to hide there was no harm in revealing the object inside his pocket. As the fellow started getting in my face more, I could hear our wonderful express-lane cashier hastily calling our manager down to the floor. Being only 5'2'' I tend to lack in the intimidation department and I was extremely glad to overhear that backup was coming. Sure enough the fellow began to back peddle, the moment that my manager rounded the aisle. Switching to a defensive angle, he cried out to both of us "What do you want with me!? I was just minding my own business!" At this point, I was both flustered and frightened I advanced on the fellow, intending to repeat my earlier request but what came out was the well known Golum line "What has it got in it's pocketsess!?" To this day, I have know idea how it popped out at that ill timed moment. It is pure luck that my manager is literally the biggest nerd I know. He gave me one incredulous look, before bursting into laughter. Fortunately laughter proved to be the last straw for our shop lifter, who panicked and ran, after chucking about sixty dollars worth of stolen goods at the pair of us. For the next week half of the store made Golum sounds, whenever I passed by and the manager will probably never let me forget it... at least we liberated the hostage items?

I never actually played 1.0 but I have decided to use the timeskip as part of Daniwyda's back story. This was mainly due to the type of character I wished to play. I created Dani in an attempt to move away from the young and inexperienced characters that I had played before her. While it is certainly fun to play out the explorations and discoveries of a youth, I wanted to try a different perspective and perhaps move towards teaching someone else's green adventurer. I knew that I wanted a character in her late thirties or forties, with plenty of life experience, However she would also need the freedom to travel and get into adventures, without the responsibilities of a family to tie her down. In most game settings there are three ways to do this. 1) The character's family was lost to some tragedy. 2) The character has chosen to distance themselves from their family. 3) The character never settled down at all. They live the rover's life, with no family ties. Number one is probably used the most frequently and I have certainly used it myself. However in my opinion it is a little overused and it is beginning to loose it's appeal. The other two depend heavily on your character's personality and both raise interesting questions. I may have tried either, if FF14 had not presented me with a third very intriguing option. 4) The character's family have completely forgotten her name and face. They believe that she died five years ago and have slowly moved on with their lives, leaving her effectively alone. It is a fascinating dynamic that I would never have the chance to explore outside of this universe. It fit the archetype that I had set for my character, while allowing me to keep her family alive and well, with the possibility of future reconciliation. Once I had decided that I wanted Dani to time skip, I set about working it into her storyline. She does have the echo, and was contacted by The Path of the Twelve, but never joined them officially. Her first loyalty has always lain with Limsa. So she fought at Carteneu under the Malestrom and not as an adventurer. Unfortunately the chaos of a massive battle rarely follows the designs of it's generals. Dani was separated from her unit early on, and never received Merlwyb's order to reinforce the left flank. Instead she found herself in the center, supporting this hodge podge collection of adventurers, when all hells broke loose. I realize that I may tread on a few toes, with my decision to play a character that skipped forwards and therefore has the echo. It could definitely come to bite me, if someone ever asks to see her tattoo. So I pay particular attention to keeping Dani's skills and abilities reasonable and hardly ever touch her echo. I made my choice simply for story reasons and I'm pretty happy with it.

I had to laugh at this, because it is both sad and true. That being said, some of the best FC/ Guilds that I have had the pleasure to be a part of or interact with were run IC and OOC by the same leader. In each case the player and their primary character shared good leadership qualities and sought to actively include and promote their members before themselves. In my opinion it all comes down to the individual leader (and weather or not they have the first clue about how to actually lead). Now for the question. 1) A Guild Concept Based Around the Leader's Character: While I won't automatically disregard an FC because the OOC leader also leads IC, I will definitely run the other way at the first sign the company revolves around him/ her. 2) An Over-scripted Plot Line: I hate finding my character in a position, where they continue to attend event after event but their actions have no discernible impact and their voice is never heard. If I make an event suggestion and am whispered "I'm sorry that isn't in the plotline" or worse, when my character reacts in a certain way and I am told "That isn't what we had planned, please try to follow the storyline" it kills the RP experience for me. Sadly I don't generally realize this trend until after I've joined a group. 3) No IC Interview: This tells me right away that there will be little RP quality control in the guild. I think the interview is important to get a feel for the new member and ascertain at minimum that they are not disrespectful, wildly lore-breaky, or solely there for ERP. 4) No FC website: I realize that this may be a big turn off for some, but I really love writing and having an online space to post stories, thoughts and journals is important to me. I would never insist that everyone use it but I do like to have the medium available. 5) No Effort Made to Engage the Rest of the Community: When the FC Rp solely with itself, things are bound to grow stale. This isn't always a deal breaker, as long as I am permitted to RP outside on my own, but it is definitely something that I look for actively. 6) Too Big: This is purely personal preference but I prefer a smaller and closer group, with plenty of community outreach. I like to get to know the other members well both IC and OOC, but find it impossible in a very large group. There are a few other things that turn me off from a free company but I will tolerate if needed. For example if the FC lacks a running storyline but has obliging officers, I can always help it get going. Cliques are another annoyance that I put up with, mainly by reaching out to others and working consciously to open things up. I don't consider these to be deal breakers, because they can often be changed or worked around.

Klynzahr is easy. If anyone mentions debt collectors, loan sharks, gambling, poverty, or gil in general, she will clam up and refuse to say another word on the subject. Iyrnahct will happily talk about, his money his business, or his sons for hours, but mention that ring of eternal bonding on his finger and you will be treated to the sight of an eight foot sea wolf blushing purple.... then mumbling something about bloody dragons and ordering several more drinks. Dani is a tough one to crack. At first glance, there seems to be nothing that could phase her, partly because she tends to skip the embarrassed stage and go straight to anger. However she actually struggles a lot with receiving a compliment. If you mention her navigation or fighting skills, she will shrug it off. Anything more personal than that, leaves her at an utter loss for words.

Being a rough and tumble tomboy has given Klyn a pretty high tolerance for physical touch. She will casually dispense shoulder slaps, sucker punches, and even hair tousles to anyone she is acquainted with, although she is conscious enough to restrain herself around strangers or folks she has just met. On the receiving end, she is comfortable with most friendly touch but doesn't hesitate to tell someone if they get too rough or uncomfortably flirtatious. Iyrnahct used to be quite similar. However age has softened the fellow up and made him far more conscious of his size and strength. He won't touch most smaller races (basically anyone) unless they initiate first. On the other hand Dani tends to be wary of contact. Her military bearing and no-nonsense mannerisms, don't invite physical touch. So when it does happen, her first response is always shock followed by an extremely awkward pat on the head or shoulder. She then attempts to extricate herself promptly and redirect the ''offender's'' attention. I guess I have both extremes covered

Now spearheading the "Make All Adventurer Guilds Into RP Hubs" Initiative. New plan: Have terrible, wonderful drinking contests in the Drowning Wench. Count me in! (Once I pay for a character transfer... ahem... yeah.)

[align=center]Syndicate/Bourgeoisie[/align] [align=center]The Royals (Sultanate)[/align] [align=center]The Immortal Flames (Blades, Torches, Sultansworn)[/align] [align=center]Adventurers/Merchants/Petty Crooks[/align] [align=center]Proletarians[/align] [align=center]Refugees [align=left]Klynzhar got her start in Ul'dah as a refugee in the fresh wake of the calamity. During her first year she drifted between begging, starving, and hard labour, living day to day with no real hope of improvement. However she was eventually offered the chance to enter the arena as an untrained gladiator. With a bit of luck and lots of stubbornness, she gained acceptance into first the gladiator's guild and then the adventurer's guild. While she has not been fortunate enough to ''make her name'' in either career, the combined gil from both represented a significant increase in her social status. Unfortunately the sudden leap to middle class has turned Klyn into her own worst enemy. She might easily be one of those, folks whose lives have been rendered miserable by Flynt. Her lack of skill with money and chronic gambling addiction, practically guarantee that she is always in debt to someone and have firmly entrenched her status as a proletariat/broke adventurer. My other characters avoid Ul'dah mainly to avoid such situations. Dahliane would be the exception and when she visits it would be in the character of a wealthy merchant. [/align] [/align]

Guess you aren't invited to Flynt's house parties. What about square dancing in gumboots? Actually the hard H is pronounced almost all of the time. The accent is closer to Northern Scottish than the Cockney that you might be thinking of, but still not quite the same. I'sa wonderin' ifin thars ony couse'o m'player speakin' steada yers truly? .... of course true understanding hinges both on your ability to understand a Newfie accent and my ability to accurately type the beast.

Who knew? I'm not the only one with Canadian inspirations! 8-) My Sea Wolves take a fair bit of inspiration from both Newfoundland and the maritime provinces, but primarily the Cape Breton areas of Nova Scotia. I have gone so far as make poor attempts to type out a Newfie accent for Iyrnahct, and slightly better attempts to type a watered down version for Klynzahr. For those of you who meet Iyrnahct on one of his rare RP outings and wonder why you can't understand a thing that he says, don't worry... it's mostly intentional.

And so, she became known as Brave Horizon. Yup. That's what I came up with. I really love that little story. Roegadyn names have so much meaning wrapped into them there are almost endless possibilities for their origin. My first character's name began in a similar fashion. Her appearance was similar to an old Wow character of mine. So I started by looking for a Sea Wolf name that resembled Kinza and wound up with Klynzahr Iyrnahctwyn. Her father's name Iyrnahct and her own surname reflects her family's origins as shipwrights and armour smiths. Iyrnahctwyn translates to Daughter of Iron River, and it suits Klyn's heritage well. Her first name is less traditional and ultimately the result of her mother's untimely death. "Klyn" was born six weeks early on the first day of the first umbral moon in 1550. Her mother died very shortly after, leaving her father beside himself with grief. When he initially refused to give his daughter a name, one of the midwives remarked "It is well that she is given none. Without a name, he will not grow too fond, and will shed only small tears when she follows her mother." Although no one had expected the tiny infant to live, she stubbornly lasted for moon after moon without a proper name. Rather than leave her nameless, the women who were caring for her adapted the midwife's first comment into a pet name for the child. Small Tears was translated into the Roegadyn Klyn Zahr, which eventually lead to the name Klynzhar. Ironically Klyn grew to embody the exact opposite of her name. She has grown to the formidable height of 7'2'' and approaches life with unquenchable optimism. The only remaining souvenir from her early birth and uncertain start to life, is her extremely poor eyesight that can only partially be remedied by spectacles. Over the years she has embraced her odd name and will cheerfully tell any non-roe that it means No Tears or Lack of Tears. She does get defensive when a more knowledgeable character points out that her name is actually masculine, but tries to shrug this off as well.

This line....it reminds me so much of Kurt's childhood and what his mom did to him when he was 5...to see how seaworthy her child was. I'm sure they were not the only seafaring parents to try that tactic. Dani has always been particularly insistent that everyone who sails with her is a capable swimmer. So she was quite horrified when she first met Iyrnahct and learned that his almost four year old daughter had never been taught. In her eyes he was the most neglectful of fathers. Just for fun, I'll add in the younger generation. Klynzahr is actually quite frightened by the thought of having children. Her own mother died shortly after delivering her, and Klyn's childhood mind contrived all sorts of horrific nightmares surrounding the event. These vague fears were doubled, when she witnessed her stepmother's extremely difficult second labor. If she were to find herself pregnant in the near future, she would probably view it as her own death sentence. As for child rearing, Klyn is probably better prepared than she believes. Growing up at sea, she had few female role models and those she did have were not exactly nurturing types. However after helping to raise three younger brothers, she has amassed a fair amount of experience and would probably turn out to be a kind yet firm parent (once you convinced her she wasn't going to die). Daliane, my Elezen alt, simply has no interest in children. Although she is stubbornly devoted to her family, her lifestyle is built around protecting their assets and building business relations in Ul'dah. So she has little time for anything else. I could only see her settling down if marriage became a political necessity. If that were to happen she would probably avoid parenthood for as long as possible, and if it still became inevitable well... she would probably hire a tutor and nannies, then do her best to forget about the kid. Terrible parent right there.

Kynzahr is an utterly hopeless gladiator. In fact she is so bad that she actually makes her living from being a looser. Most of the big name gamblers in Ul'dah know full well that no novice spectator can resist betting on a towering, muscle laden sea wolf, particularly when she steps into the arena wielding an ax the size of her competitor. What the novices don't know is that Klynzahr is blind as a bat without her spectacles, plagued by nerves in the ring, and too timid to fight on the offensive. So when her sponsors arrange a fight between Klyn and some unknown but feisty lalafell, it is certain to land her in the healer's room and net them a tidy sum of winnings. It is such a sure thing that they continue to sponsor her simply to take advantage of her lack of skill. Basically she gets paid to loose. The authorities have questioned this arrangement once or twice but after watching her train for several weeks it was concluded that Klyn was not loosing on purpose. She's just terrible.

I guess it's just one of those things about playing older characters. Babies started coming a while back and they are characters in their own right by now. Daniwyda and Iyrnahct have four grown and nearly grown children. The eldest, Klynzahr (now 28) was the only daughter from Iyrnahct's first marriage and retains no memories of her biological mother. Ginshaw (25) was an orphaned mid lander, who attached himself to Iyrnahct at the age of seven. Daniwyda became a surrogate mother to the pair of them, when she and Irynahct were wed eighteen years ago. Although the initial responsibility was a bit of a shock for Dani, she quickly grew to enjoy her little family and went on to have two sons with Iyrnahct. Merlanka, the elder, is now 15 and Danisil is almost 13. If you had asked Dani twenty years ago, she would certainly have told you that she wanted sons (and many of them). Her parenting style with all of the children has emphasized strong morals, and allowing them to learn through their mistakes. While Iyrnahct is a quiet and doting father, Dani has been known to teach her children to swim by throwing them from the deck of a moving ship and encourage the occasional fistfight "fer th'right cause." Sometimes I wonder how she hasn't given her poor husband a heart attack. Thanks to the events at Cartenue Dani is actually young enough to have another child but it would be unlikely. Her focus will probably continue to be caring for the family that she has and making up for the time that she lost.

((Figure I may as well stick my two Roes up here for form's sake.)) Character Name: Klinzahr Iyrnahctwyn Hells/Sea?: Sea Wolf Gender: Female Timezone: PST Looking for?: She's pretty busy, but extra RP is always welcome. In the future, she hopes to open a clinic in Ul'dah, and I would love to have different patients drop by. Server: Balmung Still trying to figure out the wiki.... 2. Does your character fit the 'common' lore of your Roegadyn or are they singular? (Eg. Raised by hyur so does not understand X or Y = singular) She was born in the Northern Isles, but raised at sea since age two. In other words, she's as Sea Wolf as they come. 3. What are your Rp limits, if any? (Eg: no permadeath, no ERp etc No ERP please! Otherwise I am pretty flexible, and I do enjoy character consequences. However more permanent things should be discussed OOC. ___________________________________________________________________________ Character Name: Iyrnahct Sterrankasyn Hells/Sea?: Sea Wolf Gender: Male Timezone: PST Looking for?: Mainly crafting RP right now. Server: Balmung His wiki is next in line after Klinzahr's..... 2. Does your character fit the 'common' lore of your Roegadyn or are they singular? (Eg. Raised by hyur so does not understand X or Y = singular) Iyrnahct grew up in the far North, before taking to the open sea in his thirties. As a result, his dialect is much stronger then the typical Limsian accent, and he is stubbornly traditional. Very much the 'old school' sea wolf. (( Don't worry if you can't read the accent, it's intentionally thick.)) 3. What are your Rp limits, if any? (Eg: no permadeath, no ERp etc Same as above.

As LeCard pointed out, the two Roegadyn naming styles, actually have less to do with the individual's clan then with the individual's exposure to city states. Although Hellsgaurd are more likely to 'translate' their names, one should keep in mind that their birth names would have followed conventions similar to the Sea Wolf's names. My Sea Wolf actually does have an unconventional name, although in a different way. I chose to turn a blind eye to the 'soft rule' that female names would nearly always end in wyda, wyb, thota, lona, rael, giem, bhyda, or swys. So my Sea Wolf Klinzahr Iyrnahctwyn is essentially a woman with a very masculine name. There is an IC reason for this, and Klinzahr herself is quite self-conscious about her name. I would enjoy seeing it brought up more often in RP. Unfortunately, many RPers seem reluctant to mention it. Another character who I know of, is a Hellsgaurd with the in game name Khanafyr Coldsteel. He was actually born Khanafyr Keltsthalsyn (Laughing Fire son of Cold Steel). His decision to use his father's name in Ul'dah, sharing his actual first name only with those that he trusts, reflects his IC suspicion towards city folk. The fact is there are many possible reasons for unusual or unconventional names, which range from turning their back to the family group or tribe, to being raised by another race, to a younger sibling mispronouncing their given name. I generally enjoy these little tidbits as an extra RP hook. I do find myself biased against RPers who try to take names from other lore/novels though. While I have seen some characters who take an obscure name from liturature and manage to make it their own, I'm always afraid that they are attempting to cross over the lore from a different universe, rip off the other character's design, or both. As I see it, a subtle reference is fine, but a completely unaltered name that everyone recognizes and probably violates the naming conventions to boot is going to bring trouble. I once saw a Plainsfolk named Rikitiki Tavitiki, a reference to the little known junglebook character Riki-tiki-tavi, and I couldn't help but smile. Not only did the name fit conventions perfectly, but the reference was one that few people would notice. On the other hand, I find names like Arthur Pendragon, Rainbow Dash, or Legolas Greenleaf almost impossible to take seriously, and I would certainly be reluctant to initiate RP with those characters.

If this is truly the case...... HOORAY!!! :D:D :cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar::cactuar: (I will keep my eyes pealed for any new offenders, but I sure hope you're right)

Thought that I would add that I have had this problem frequently for the past few weeks. My fiance and I often RP with skype open in the background, so we can catch this thing pretty quickly. So far we have found that, it happens far more frequently to longer posts, although there is no definite cut off. Occasionally a very short emote will be dropped for no apparent reason. Changing the emote into /say or /tell does not fix the problem. Cutting it into two or more emotes works sometimes, probably about 90% if the emote is under a paragraph. I have not tried swapping a single word, but I will certainly try it. While it's very frustrating in one on one RP, I am most worried about random encounters. I have been ignored a few times, and I can never figure out if the person is busy or my text simply didn't show.

As several people here have already mentioned, many of these answers can vary a bit. Here are some suggestions to consider when starting out. 1. What chat channels do most RPers constantly use? Say/Party/Tell? Or do most people switch it up depending on where they are and/or who they are with? As a beginner Say and Emote should be your best friends. Most RPers use them as their default in character chat, and RPing in /Say gives any nearby RPer's a chance to respond. Tell on the other hand is very situational. It's most frequent IC use is when your character is whispering to someone nearby. However as a beginner, I found it far more useful for OOC questions which should be double bracketed ((like so)). The use of party chat for RP is typically reserved for scheduled events among an established RP group. It allows players to set up an elaborate scene with no interruptions, but prevents other Rpers from joining. So you will probably not see much of this at first. 2. How are custom emotes used? Are they used to express a simple action (i.e.: Nald'thal looks down upon Uldah.), or do people tend to be more wordy and reveal inner thoughts (i.e.: Nald'thal looks down upon Uldah, wondering where all the puny people went. Surely the city was full just moments ago!)? The length of your emotes varies from person to person, although it is generally considered best to avoid thoughts whenever possible due to the 'mind reading conundrum'. One good use for emotes is to describe any notable things about your character that can't be seen on your avatar. For example... /em greets the group, with a soft "Hello", speaking with a slight tribal accent. Or.... /em looks down upon Uldah, with her dusty clothes bearing the signs of long travel. 3. Exactly how often are emotes used? Are they more scarce in a simple conversation between friends, and seen more in like, a scene... or something? This is situational again. When RPing with a one or two other characters, it is generally best to include lots of emotes, which are typically tied in with the converation like my first example above. Some people will throw in an emote every two or three sentences, while others will use nothing but emotes which can grow up to a paragraph in length. As a beginner, it may seem very hard to keep up at first. So just try to use them as often as you can. In larger groups you will see people leaning more towards simple Say and the occasional short emote, which helps keep things easier to follow. If you find yourself in this situation, as a new RPer it can be daunting at first but also a great chance to watch and learn. One strategy is not to participate in the conversation, and instead take your time formulating a few emotes to describe your character and their reactions to whatever has been said (facial expression, shaking their head, ect..). This gives you more time to think, and also more time to observe. :thumbsup: 4. Is it commonplace for RP to be planned, or is 'freestyle' RP more popular? The extent of planning for most RPers is "we will meet here at x time and grab a drink/kill some pesky fungar/practice sparring ect... " Some FCs or Linkshells will hold more focused events, with one party member setting up a challenge for the group similar to DnD (this is usually where Party chat is used). In general it is important to have some ideas and direction for your character, but to wait until RP brings them out naturally. At it's heart RP is all about improvisation and flexibility. Random RP is a term generally used to refer to RP that takes place when your character meets a stranger on the road and strikes up a conversation. Most RPers love this although some can be wary. If in doubt use Tell to ask the player if they are IC and open to some quick RP. 5. How does one with a crippling sense of inadequacy find people to RP with? Linkshells, FC's and the mentorship program are all excellent options. A mentorship in particular can help you to develop your character and decide which sort of FC or linkshell is best for them. Random RP is another good way to get started. The best way to identify a RPer is by their clothes (generally matching and sometimes low level), a character who is walking around is another dead giveaway. A quick OOC Tell is usually the best way to start, point out that you're new, ask if they want to RP, and then have some fun. :lol: If you happen to stumble upon RP in progress, take a moment to formulate your first emote. It should give a basic impression of your character, and include some things of note for others to respond to. /em walks over and smiles at everyone. Is not nearly as interesting as.... / em walks over with her brown head bent seriously over a city map. Clearly absorbed, she blunders into the center of the small group, before looking up with a weak smile. However being interesting is not the same as stealing the show. So try to avoid... /em walks into the center of the group, with a pained smile and collapses to the roadway. Blood oozes from multiple lacerations and she appears on the brink of death. (Optional) 6. Does your character prefer sweet, sour or spicy food? Klinzahr like a true old salt loves her sour pickles. Cucumbers, eggs, herring, cabbage, if it's pickled she'll enjoy it.

..... and now they're down again.